Odysseus becomes first private spacecraft to land on the Moon
by Nilima Marshall
Feb 23, 2024
3 minutes
A lunar lander built by a US spaceflight company has become the first privately owned spacecraft to land on the Moon.
Intuitive Machines’s Nova-C Odysseus lander touched down on the Moon’s south pole region at 23.23pm UK time on Thursday.
The moment also marked the first US Moon landing since the final mission of the Apollo programme, Apollo 17, more than 50 years ago.
Your order was delivered… to the Moon! 📦' uncrewed lunar lander landed at 6:23pm ET (2323 UTC), bringing NASA science to the Moon's surface. These instruments will prepare us for future human exploration of the Moon under .
— NASA (@NASA)
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